Zac Sunderland's sister Abby has just announced that she too will sail the world solo - and the Sunderlands are a big family - how many more?

While sailing the world has been made easier and easier with the introduction of GPS's and AIS's and many other contraptions, Customs and Immigration can still cause major headaches, requiring would-be cruisers to maintain a healthy sense of humour or just stay home.

This week we tell of how the Sail Indonesia Rally has had an 'interesting' time trying to get into Indonesia. This happened in spite of that country's extreme desire to get the 150 cruising boats participating to sail up to Sail Bunaken, their ambitious and imminent world maritime festival.

Balvenie, up in the Mediterranean had an equally 'interesting' time trying to achieve entry into Montenegro, hilariously described by Amanda Church.

This week's strangest yacht regatta is Henley-on-Todd – no rules, no protests and no water. For innovation, the Yacht Club of the month is Amelia Island Yacht Club, who have found out how to combine their love of poker with a yacht regatta. All in the best spirits!

On a more sober note, the sailing world is intensely watching the court case of a leisure sailor charged over a collision where there was no wind and the sailing boat was hardly moving, but the motor boat was doing between 30 and 55 knots. Read the story!

Lots of practical information this week too – a check list for your all-important engine, another MAIB Incident to test your knowledge, and Mark Cherrington is back with some more tips for 'cruisier' cruising.

Read on, enjoy, and

Smooth Sailing

Nancy Knudsen, Cruising Editor

Second teen girl to circumnavigate solo Pete Thomas, LATimes/Sail-World Cruising, Now there is a second teenaged girl announcing that she will sail around the world alone. While Australia's Jessica Watson is preparing for her sail on an all pink boat renamed Pink Lady, Zac Sunderland's younger sister Abby has announced that she will follow in her brother's footsteps.... [more]

Yachtsman charged, powerboat driver goes free after collision Bob Adriance, Seaworthy/Sail-World, Strange Justice: An American yachtsman at the helm of a 27ft sailboat in almost windless conditions has been charged with manslaughter after a 385hp motor boat collided with it on a dark night. The driver of the motor boat, a deputy sheriff and second in charge at the local Sheriff's Department, was not charged. The case is now in the courts and the sailing world is watching.... [more]

Sailing with Balvenie - Montenegro Amanda Church and Mark Farrell, Amanda Church and Mark Farrell continue with their tales of sailing the Mediterranean in their 47 ft yacht, Balvenie. After Greece is Montenegro and the tale of their attempts to check in is hilarious, before they get down to serious sightseeing: Our 170 mile overnight passage in the Southern Adriatic north from Corfu in Greece was reasonably uneventful.... [more]

Incident No. 7 - Anything but plain sailing! MAIB/Sail-World Cruising, Judgment is for God, but the best mistakes to learn by are other people's. This is especially so with sailing. In this anecdote, the seventh in the series, we present a real sailing situation which was investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), and FIVE lessons deduced. Can you identify the lessons? (Find answers at the end of the story)... [more]

The World's Strangest Yacht Regatta, Henley-on-Todd Nancy Knudsen, A yacht race without any water, yachts that are not allowed to be seaworthy, and rules which allow the firing of weapons to block other competitors, these are just some of the characteristics which make the annual Henley-on-Todd to be held in Alice Springs, Australia, next Saturday, the strangest yachting event in the world... [more]

Yacht engine - do you have a check list? Blackwattle Studios, A sailing boat is meant to sail, but on the modern yacht the engine is important for safety, usually for docking, and for impatient skippers who can't wait out a windless day. So checking that your engine is in top shape before you depart the wharf is critical for both comfort and safety. The worthy RNLI suggests the following handy check-list, which can be kept on a card on the chart table... [more]

Fun and Chaos - the Sail Indonesia Rally Nancy Knudsen, As 132 yachts in the Sail Indonesia Rally left Darwin at the end of last month it was a slightly overcast day, with a light south easterly pushing the boats north. But they had no idea what was in store for them, and it was nothing to do with the weather... [more]

Amelia Island - Sailing Club of the month Sail-World Cruising, Sail-World's Yacht Club of the month is the Amelia Island Sailing Club, for getting their priorities right and in conducting the most innovative yacht event in its annual Poker Run. Poker Run? To explain...... [more]

Product of the Week: New LED Downlights Blackwattle Studios, One of the most critical aspects of sailing is balancing your power-draw against your power-generation, and one of the greatest innovations for the cruising sailor has been the introduction of LED lights, those magic little numbers with the infinitesimal draw. Now Hella has introduced some great new LED downlights... [more]

The ‘Whos Who' of Yacht Racing Sail-World.com, The Dark Blue Book is the first ever ‘Who's Who of yachting' book to emerge on the scene, listing the contact details of some the most influential people in the sport. With a new edition planned for release in 2010, more entries are being sought to add to the many contacts already in the book.... [more]

Five MORE Tips for Cruisier Cruising Mark Cherrington, Last week we brought you FIVE TIPS for 'cruisier cruising' from Mark Cherrington, five suggestions to make cruising more fun and less stressful. This week we bring you five more tips, which range from free to a couple of thousand dollars, and all aimed at making our sailing lives simpler, as well as letting us do some tasks more quickly.... [more]

Bare Boat Charter in Whitsundays- one of the best holiday experiences Deni Linforth, There is something liberating about bareboat chartering in Australia's Whitsundays with Whitsunday Rent A Yacht... The sheer exhilaration and freedom at the helm of your own yacht or motor cruiser is hard to beat... and the kids will love it too. Its not just us saying this - look at a recent testimonial...... [more]

First Solar Sail - getting closer Jeremy Hsu, Space.com, Never yet has a vehicle successfully flown in space using a solar sail as its primary means of propulsion. But it hasn't been for a lack of trying. Solar sails have long promised to harness sunlight for space exploration, just as early sailing ships harnessed the wind. Now the Planetary Society hopes to refit a NASA sail design and make a third U.S. attempt to fly the first solar sail in space... [more]

Sailing catches on in South Korea Kim Young-ju /Sail-World, Sailing as a private leisure activity instead of for waging war, exploring, fishing or cargo hauling is a comparatively recent development of the nineteenth century. The passion for the sport is still spreading round the world, and in Korea the Korean Maritime University in Busan is in its second year of offering sailing lessons.... [more]

Rupert Murdoch: The yacht's out for charter BW Media roundup, It seems even media moguls can be short a Euro or two in times of recession, because Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch's yacht Rosehearty can now be yours for a mere €210,000 (US$300,000) per week.... [more]

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